Modern integrated circuits are made up of millions of active devices such as transistors and capacitors. These devices are initially isolated from each other, but are later interconnected together to form functional circuits. Typical interconnect structures include lateral interconnections, such as metal lines (wirings), and vertical interconnections, such as via openings and contacts. Interconnections are increasingly determining the limits of performance and the density of modern integrated circuits. On top of the interconnect structures, bond pads are formed and exposed on the surface of the respective chip. Electrical connections are made through bond pads to connect the chip to a package substrate or another die. Bond pads can be used for wire bonding or flip-chip bonding. Flip-chip packaging utilizes bumps to establish electrical contact between a chip's I/O pads and the substrate or lead frame of the package. Structurally, a bump actually contains the bump itself and an “under bump metallurgy” (UBM) located between the bump and an I/O pad.
Wafer level chip scale packaging (WLCSP) is currently widely used for its low cost and relatively simple processes. In a typical WLCSP, post-passivation interconnect (PPI) lines such as redistribution lines (RDLs) are formed on passivation layers, followed by the formation of polymer films and bumps. The PPI formation processes known to the inventors, however, have polymer film peeling issues, which may induce weak interfaces in the PPI structure and cause failures in the device.